Where Monsters Are Made.
Everybody has ideas. Some are good, some are funky, some are weird, some are better for another time, and some have ideas that someone else has already thought of.
All of them are always good and worth hearing. This is how my mother, sister, and I treat each other's creative conversations.
I can listen and find goodness in just about everything… except my own work. That is where I struggle most, and I know this to be true for Mama and Annie, too.
The inner critique is a mean creativity killer. It hunts the most sacred thoughts and kills them before they even have a chance to be heard by another.
Because of this inner critique, (too often) I am silent. This can be an excellent tool, especially for learning and hearing someone else, but when it comes to owning and operating a business…
New ideas are always a good thing, but when working towards a common goal, there can be too many ideas. One thing at a time is key to staying on course and completing the tasks needed in the day-to-day.
Sometimes, I toss my ideas to the side to honor another. Doing this from time to time is fine, but over and over again during a long period… is when I feel lost.
Expressing my thoughts and feelings out loud has been one of my most significant challenges in life… I crave to be heard. I long to be understood. As a child, I drew my feelings and how I saw the world on any paper I could find. Family parties, holiday gatherings, the dentist's office, and even napkins at a restaurant made do until I eventually found paper at every one of these and more places where I spent much of the time sitting quietly to observe. As a teenager, I began to write what I felt, but no one ever read those words.
Until now! Mwhahahaha!
I'm kidding! Kind of. Everyone has a little snark toward their past now and then. It's all valid and worthy of being heard. I am just happy to be putting more pen to paper (fingers to keys) in a way that is a little more personal than when writing storybooks.
For these past few years of running my own business, and now including my family, the common goal has been to create loving storybooks that my nieces and nephews might enjoy.
While I love to make stories for children, I have more to say than through that lens.
In the age where authenticity is gold… I have found silence to be essential. Being quiet and listening to my surroundings like I did as a child to survive… I am finding this tool to be my ally in thriving.
Sharing ideas in a family or community and working towards a common goal that benefits us all… is a superpower.
Wanting to be heard when you feel like no one is listening is painful. If I were to offer any advice, start to hear yourself. Write it out, draw, cry, and spend time in the dark silence. This is where monsters are made.
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2 comments
I needed this!
I’m listening 💕